Risk and the construction of social identity: children's talk about accidents

Abstract

Abstract This paper draws on data from a focus group based study of children's stories about accidents. It examines the ways in which talk about accident risks is utilised as a resource for constructing social identities. In their stories, children claimed responsibility for managing their own accident risks, and in doing so constructed themselves and their peers as mature risk assessors and managers. Furthermore, stories about accidents were used to construct gendered identities and to delineate the boundaries of peer groups. This suggests that, rather than undercutting subjectivity, discourses of risk can be used to construct social identity.